


Three

by orphan_account



Category: The Purge (2013), The Purge: Anarchy (2014), the purge: election year
Genre: F/M, Gen, The Purge, spoilers for the purge: anarchy, spoilers for the purge: election year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 05:06:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6039352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She still doesn’t look at him. “What if you get killed for that senator lady? What will mom do then?” She looks ‘round at him. “What if we come home, but you don’t? Or vice versa?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, I haven't seen The Purge: Election Year yet (obviously) but after watching the trailer I was super psyched, but I'm still sad that Cali and Eva aren't in it. As with my previous fic, I have a wee headcanon that Eva and Leo get together. SO, basically I'm just going to continue pretending that it's true and he's just working for the Senator whilst his family are at home. INDULGE ME.

“No. No way. Not happening.” Cali yells in her adamant, stubborn teenage way. She’s stomping her way through the flat and Leo is surprised she doesn’t actually put one of her oversized army boots through a floorboard.

“It’s only for one night!”

“Oh yeah, _one_ night, just ONE NORMAL NIGHT!” She continues her stomping all the way into her room, but she doesn’t slam the door, which Leo counts as a win.

“I’m just trying to keep you safe!” He’s trying so hard to keep his voice steady. He doesn’t want this any more than her, any more than her mother does, but it’s his only option right now. Well, the only sensible option.

“And what about you?” Cali snaps, pacing around her room – well, _stomping_ \- with her arms moving around, making every word more furious. “You can’t just send us away after everything you’ve done!”

Leo isn’t entirely sure what she means; she could be talking about the adaptions to the flat, the extra bolts and locks, the industrial steel covers for the doors and windows, the walk in closet in his and Eva’s room that he turned into a small panic room…or she could be meaning something else. She could be meaning the fact he’s marrying her mother; it could be the fact that he drops her off at college most mornings, and makes her hot chocolate when she’s sick; it could be that he’d promised to keep her mother and her safe this year, just like he did last year, and year before.

“Cal, I have a job, I can’t just-“

“Oh, your job’s more important than us?!”

“Cali,” Leo says, his voice getting quiet. He knows where this is going. He can feel it in his stomach.

“No, no, I get it.” Cali says, and her voice is shaking. “Your big, fancy job is more important than us.” She storms to the corner of the room and grabs a duffel bag. “Some stupid Politian is more important than your fiancée and her dumb kid.”

“You’re being stupid now.” He says, putting his hands on his hips. 

“No, it’s fine.” Cali says, and there’s tears now, tears that neither of them were expecting. “I mean, you don’t have any obligation to us.” She starts picking up clothes from the floor and stuffing them into her bag. “The Senator is more important, it’s fine. We’re just baggage.”

“Cali…”

“It’s not like we’re family, huh?” Leo looks up and Cali is stand there at the foot of her unmade bed, duffel bag in hand, tears streaking her cheeks. 

Leo opens his mouth, but he stops. He doesn’t know what to say. The conversation has taken an unexpected turn; he’d assumed the teenager’s tantrum would be focused on the fact she hates that he works for the government, and that sending her and her mother to a safe house wasn’t fair. However, it seems like that’s not the issue at all.

“Yeah,” Cali says, and she walks past him towards the bathroom. “That’s what I thought.”

\---

It’s past midnight, and Eva’s gone to bed. Leo told her about the fight, but all she did was kiss him and tell him it’ll be okay. She’d went into Cali’s room for a while, but she didn’t tell him what the kid said, just smiled and went to bed, warning him not to stay up too late.

“Hey.”

Leo turns ‘round on the sofa to see Cali standing behind him. Her eyes are red and puffy, and she’s got an oversized sweater on which makes her look like a little girl.

“Hey,” Leo says, and he sits up, stretching. “You’ve got class in the morning,” he yawns, reaching for the TV remote. He wasn’t actually watching anything, he just likes the background noise.

Cali shrugs and walks around the edge of the sofa and sits down, a few inches away.

“You okay, kid?” Leo asks, running a hand through his hair.

Cali shrugs again, then nods. 

Leo raises an eyebrow. He knows Cali well enough to know that she’s building herself up to say something, so he waits.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you.” She says after what seems like an eternity.

Leo shakes his head and leans forward on his knees. “It’s fine, don’t-“

“I just don’t want you to leave.” 

Leo looks up. “What?”

Cali rolls her eyes, pulling her knees up to her chest. “I don’t want…” She stops, and looks at the ceiling, taking a few breaths. “What if you don’t come home?”

Leo looks at her, confused. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Cali shrugs, still staring into space. “What if you get hurt? What if something happens and you’re not with us? Or your work, what if—“

“Cali,” Leo says, and he reaches out to touch her knee. “Where’s this coming from?”

She still doesn’t look at him. “What if you get killed for that senator lady? What will mom do then?” She looks ‘round at him. “What if we come home, but you don’t? Or vice versa?”

Leo frowns.

“I just think we should stick together. We always stick together.”

“Cali, it’s not that—“

“I mean,” she interrupts. “I know you’re here for mom, and I know I’m not—“ she cuts herself off before finishing with, “You can’t leave her.”

Leo watches her for a few seconds before he squeezes her knew. “I’m only doing this because I have to, Cal.” Cali looks down at her knees, pulling her sweater over her toes. “Believe me, I want to be home with my girls, but…I need to do this.” She still doesn’t look up at him. “Senator Roan could end all of this, stop it.” This time, Cali looks up, meeting his eyes. “If she can end this, we never need to do any of this again.”

Cali sighs and nods. “I know, I just…I feel safer when you’re here. With us.”

“No one will hurt you on Saturday,” Leo says. “I’ve taken every precaution.”

“But you won’t be there.”

Leo gives a soft laugh. “Hey, I’m not Superman.”

“You are to us.”

There’s a stab in Leo’s stomach, and it’s almost like he’s just realised how much he loves this kid.

“Cali,” he says, and he shuffles a little closer to her. “I’m doing this for your mom and you. I want this place to be safer for you, so you don’t need to worry. If Roan can do that, then I have to support her. That’s all this is about, okay?”

Cali nods, and she makes to get to her feet but Leo puts an arm around her and pulls her gently to his side.

“Don’t ever think that I don’t care, okay?” He says, and she looks up at him. “Everything I do is for you and your mom. You guys are my life. You know that, right?”

Cali bites the inside of her cheek.

“Hey,” Leo says, and he squeezes her shoulder gently. “I know you think I’m only here because of your mom, but that’s not true. You’re my girl too, okay?”

“Yeah?” 

“Jesus,” Leo laughs. “You think I put up with your commie rants and terrible music just because I love your mom?”

Cali elbows him, but she smiles.

“Is that what this was all about? You think I don’t care?”

Cali shrugs.

“Well, that’s just stupid.” Leo says, and he twists a little to look at her properly. “I thought you were smarter than that.”

Cali sighs and lets her weight fall against him. “We can’t lose you.”

Leo presses his lips against her hair. “You won’t.”


End file.
